Prof. Dr. Qing Li
Qing Li (MD, PhD)｜Leading expert in forest medicine, Shinrin Yoku, forest bathing｜Chairman of many professional societies

Member of the IWS. Academy

Some people study medicine. Some people study forests. I studied forest medicine to find out all the ways in which being in the forest can improve our well-being.


Immunologist Prof. Dr. Qing Li (MD, PhD) works as a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Prof. Dr. Qing Li is considered the founder of the forest medicine research field. Interdisciplinary science explores how spending time in the forest can improve health and well-being.

Prof. Dr. Qing Li was an associate professor at Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, and a visiting scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine. As a leading international expert in forest medicine and immunology, he also works as a manager and consultant in various hospitals in Japan.


Prof. Dr. Qing Li is a founding member and president of the Forest Therapy Society in Japan, leading member of the Task Force on Forests and Human Health, vice president and general secretary of the International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine, and one of the directors of the Forest Therapy Society in Japan. He is also Executive Vice Chairman of the Forest Health Maintenance Research Committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.


He began his Shinrin Yoku research in 2004 and has published numerous articles in prestigious scientific journals. Prof. Dr. Qing Li's Compendium "Forest Medicine," published in 2012, is considered a standard work. His popular science book, "Shinrin Yoku," has been translated into countless languages.

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